Retired science teacher believes in hands-on approach

During his career as a science teacher, Richard Shult has used these and many more ordinary, everyday things to build devices to help intermediate school students understand some basic concepts of science.

Through the years, he made devices that demonstrate concepts such as range of vision, reaction time, probability, transfer of energy — even how to measure the height of a tree.

Shult, 76, has been retired for years, but he still has plenty of the simple devices he made years ago to give his students what he has always thought they needed. "Kids learn best when they can do things hands-on," he said Tuesday in his organized garage, filled with his past and present projects. "I like to get kids thinking. Plus, it keeps them out of trouble."

Shult taught science to intermediate students in Willows, and since he is retired, he'd like to pass on his creations to other science teachers and science-minded people.

"Having students do these kinds of productive activities in class beats talking to them or looking at a screen any day," he said, demonstrating a few of his creations. He said he got most of the ideas years ago from books.

They're not complicated, he said, and students could understand basic concepts by using them. He made wooden puzzles kids could attempt for extra credit, and he still has lots of them.

While working at Willows Intermediate, he helped students with an ecology club. "After we moved from the old school on Sycamore Street, we planted 120 trees at the new school," he said. "That was in 1971. We put an ID tag on each tree, and I think they're still there today.

"The club also cleaned up the old dump outside Willows, and it's a park today," he said.

Shult and his wife, Marilyn Shult, attended Illinois State University. He went on to get a master's in botany at University of South Dakota. The couple have three sons and five grandchildren.

Some of Shult's creations are displayed at Gateway Science Museum in Chico and at Chico State University's Hands-On Science Lab at Holt Hall.

Staff writer Mary Nugent can be reached at 896-7764, mnugent@chicoer.com or on Twitter @ER_MaryNugent.

Seeking other science-minded folks

Richard Shult is a firm believer that people learn best when they are part of the process. He appreciates the findings of a study, "How We Learn":

* 5-10 percent: of what we read

* 15-20 percet: of what we hear

* 40-50 perent: of what we are shown

* 70-75 percent: of what we do

* 85-90 percent: of what we do and teach.

To reach Shult

Richard Shult would like teachers or other science-minded people to "take, keep and use" his hands-on devices. He has given away a lot of it, but there is plenty left.

He also has a loose-leaf binder with more than 100 pages of hand-on activities and experiments that may be copied by interested folks.